What Is the Meaning of Sauron’s Mark in The Rings of Power?

The Rings of Power had an action-packed beginning to the storyline of a series that seeks to continue the legacy left behind by Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings. Of course, the start of the series allowed us to see some interesting tidbits that could point to something bigger and greater. This included the mark that Sauron left on Galadriel’s brother’s corpse and on different places all over Middle-Earth. So, what is the meaning of Sauron’s mark in The Rings of Power?

Sauron’s mark or sigil is still a mystery, as Galadriel herself said that not even the wisest elves were able to decipher its meaning. However, it is possible that this sigil is a map or a way for Sauron to gather his forces to the one place that he became synonymous with in The Lord of the Rings—Mordor.

At this point, it is too early to tell what Sauron’s mark means because the series will probably tell us what its purpose is sooner or later. Nevertheless, we still have a few theories in mind regarding what this mark means, as there is a good possibility that one of our theories will prove to be spot on when it comes to what this mysterious sigil could possibly be. Now, let’s get on with it.

What Is The Meaning Of Sauron’s Mark In The Rings Of Power? Theories

The release of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power had already gotten fans wondering about the different things that they saw in the series, especially during the earlier part when Galadriel was still introducing the premise of the storyline. Of course, one of the earliest mysteries that the series bombarded us with was the mark that was left by Sauron on Finrod’s body as Galadriel was inspecting the corpse of her older brother.

The reason why this mark was so mysterious was the fact that, as Galadriel mentioned, not even the wisest of the elves understood the underlying meaning behind this mark. Of course, the series is yet to reveal what this sigil means or what it pertains to. Nevertheless, we do have theories that could perhaps make sense of what this sigil means.

It Is A Symbol Of Mordor

Those who’ve read The Lord of the Rings novel or watched Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy films would understand that the place that is synonymous with Sauron is Mordor. That’s because Mordor was his base of operations during the war of the Second Age and the events of the Third Age. In fact, it was in the fires of Mount Doom in Mordor where he forged the One Ring to rule all of the Rings of Power. 

But how is this symbol related to Mordor? Well, this is merely a wild guess because we don’t know anything about the symbol. But if you look at the symbol and point it sideways, it does look like the map of Mordor. You can see the similarities here as we outlined the symbol with the map of Mordor to make them look similar, although this could simply be a coincidence that doesn’t hold any symbolic meaning.

Nevertheless, if this actually is a symbol for the map of Mordor, it could be possible that Sauron was leaving it all over Middle-Earth as a way for his minions to know where to find him. We know for a fact that Galadriel spent the early part of the storyline searching for any signs of Sauron and the orcs for decades, only to find that her journey was a dead end. Nevertheless, she still saw the symbol in an area in the northern territories of Middle-Earth, as she herself said that Sauron was leaving it for his minions to find.

The mark, of course, was also found in other areas all over Middle-Earth, and it was even found on Theo’s (Bronwyn’s son) sword hilt. This could mean that Sauron was indeed using the mark as a way of telling his minions, “Hey, go to this neat area that I found for us. It looks just like this mark.” But, of course, we are merely speculating here because we don’t know what that mark actually means.

It Could Bring Sauron Back

Another theory regarding the symbol that Sauron left is related to the fact that Galadriel spent decades or even centuries looking for him, only to find out that he had completely disappeared from Middle-Earth. This could mean that Sauron was indeed gone from Middle-Earth, but his spirit still lives on. And this mark could be a way for his minions to bring him back.

One clue that could point to this possibility is the fact that Galadriel and her men found an anvil with Sauron’s mark on it. Meanwhile, there were corpses of orcs all over the area, as it was suggested that they dabbled in some sort of ritual. And this could be related to the ritual that is required for them to bring Sauron back to the physical plane.

We also know for a fact that, as mentioned, the mark was found on the broken sword that Theo was carrying around. In episode 2, there was a monster (probably an orc or a goblin hybrid) that specifically wanted to get its hands on Theo, and the sword could be the reason why it wanted the boy.

The monster, which was obviously a minion of Sauron, was probably attracted to the mark on the sword, and that’s why it wanted the boy. We all know that Sauron, despite being known for carrying a Morningstar or a flail during the events of The Lord of the Rings, was seen wielding a sword in the unreleased fight against Aragorn. Of course, in one of the promotional materials for The Rings of Power, Sauron is depicted to have a sword that looks similar to the one that Theo carries.

This could mean that the same sword could be a conduit for bringing him back, especially when you consider that there was also an anvil with his symbol on it. The anvil could also be a conduit because it represents Sauron forging the One Ring. But we don’t know why his mark was on Finrod (could it mean that he will inhabit Finrod’s body?).

The Eye Of Sauron

This is probably the easiest theory to explain here as we all know that Sauron was represented by a large and fiery eye during the events of The Lord of the Rings as he could no longer take form after Galadriel banished him to Mordor during the events of The Hobbit. And the mark that he left on Finrod and the other objects does, to some extent, look like the Eye of Sauron.

There is a possibility that this is merely a mark that he uses to brand things that are his, such as the broken sword that Theo was carrying around. In Finrod’s case, he might have placed that symbol on him as a warning to those who dare try to search for him, as he might be telling them that they would suffer the same fate if they were to attempt to vanquish him. Meanwhile, the anvil was probably marked because it was one of his properties.

In a way, it is similar to product branding that companies use to make sure that people know that they are the ones responsible for creating this certain product (just like the Starbucks mermaid). Sauron, perhaps, was merely using the Eye of Sauron mark as a way to tell people that this is his brand and that Middle-Earth should be aware of the fact that he is not yet gone and he still is a threat to the world when he eventually regains his strength and musters up an army large enough to plunge the world into darkness once more.

We also have a theory in relation to what the symbol could do. It is possible that this symbol has the ability to allow Sauron to see what’s going on in that area or to attract his minions to where the mark is located. That could be the reason why the mark is scattered all over Middle-Earth. Nevertheless, that is merely a theory that may or may not be true, but we do believe that we are eventually going to understand why this mark exists and why Sauron uses it.

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